Smule makes tons of apps for listening and playing music. Recently a Los Angeles-based indie pop group, called Smallpoolsreleased songs from their new album,LOVETAP!, on Smule's Magic Piano and Sing! Karaoke so that you could jam along with them. Last month, Smallpools released two songs for the apps called “Open Call”, on Sing! Karaoke and "Karaoke" for Magic Piano where you could perform alongside band frontman Sean Scanlon.

“Working with Smule gave us the unique opportunity to interact with our fans on a whole new level,” said Michael Kamerman of Smallpools, in a press release. “It also exposed our music to hundreds of thousands of new listeners and we had a fantastic time watching everyone get down with our Open Call."

The Sing! Karaoke app lets you record yourself singing alone or with friends, add special effects to your voice, and share with people all over the world. Magic Piano shows you how to play your favorite songs, control the rhythm and tempo, and choose from a bunch of different instruments including piano, harpsichord, Funky 80's synth, and organ. You can also use the two apps together to match your awesome piano playing skills with vocals.

You can join the band with Sing! Karaoke and Magic Piano for free on the App Store.

Smule has announced their new Smule Pass service for unlimited access to music and features across several of their music apps. Users of Sing! Karaoke, Magic Piano, AutoRap, and Guitar! can buy a subscription in one app and get unlimited song access and storage, pro studio effects, and the ability to upload Sing! tracks to Smule.com.

Right now, all existing and upcoming purchases of VIP subscriptions in each individual app will get the Smule Pass for all four apps for the life of their subscriptions. It's not possible to purchase a "Smule Pass" per se - we've reached out for clarification on how future purchases will work.

Update: According to a Smule representative, anyone who buys a VIP subscription in an app and has the app linked to their Smule ID will get the Smule Pass, enabling access in the other apps.

Smule, developers of exciting and sometimes unusual music apps for iPhone, has updated the popular I Am T-Pain app for iPhone 4. The 1.5 update is free to all users and takes advantage of the video services available to developers in iOS4 and the new front-facing camera on the iPhone 4.

If you’ve not tried the app before, I Am T-Pain is a novel tool that alters a user's voice using the popular Auto-Tune effect found in modern pop music. The new version now allows you to capture video on the front-facing camera as you sing into your iPhone to a backing track chosen from a number of T-Pain’s own songs.

Once recorded, songs and video can be shared to the web to sit alongside the over 29 million recordings by I Am T-Pain users so far.

If you fancy sound at least a little bit like the current chart toppers, the app works with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS and is available for a very reasonable $0.99

Check out the big man himself showing off the new app features in the video below